Ground Beef Entomatadas are a typical Mexican dish consisting of lightly fried corn tortillas, filled with delicious ground beef and topped with a silky tomato sauce and melted cheese.
Ground Beef Entomatadas
This post goes out to my younger brother, Javier. He loves entomatadas! This is one of the top dishes he'd always ask my mom to cook when we were growing up. To this day, he still requests them and I have also heard him ask my mom how to make them a couple of times.
So Javier, if you ever forget how to make them or need a refresher, then I hope this post comes in handy. And for others reading this, if you are a fan of lightly fried tortillas filled with meat and smothered in a tasty sauce and melted cheese, then you have come to the right place.
What are Entomatadas?
Now before we get to how to make them, let me give you a little background on the dish. You might be more familiar with enchiladas, lightly fried corn tortillas stuffed with meat or cheese and smothered with a spicy green or red sauce. Well, entomatadas are very similar. However, instead of being smothered with a spicy chile sauce, the tortillas are covered in a silky tomato sauce that is not spicy.
The name entomatadas literally means covered in tomato, just as enchiladas means covered in chile. Also like enchiladas, there are different ways to make entomatadas, but today I am sharing my mom's delicious recipe for Ground Beef Entomatadas.
How to Make Ground Beef Entomatadas
Ground Beef Filling
Begin, by browning a pound of ground beef in a medium pan or skillet. When almost completely browned, add a diced garlic clove, ¼ diced white onion, a pinch of cumin powder (about ⅛ teaspoon), and salt and pepper to taste.
Finish cooking the ground beef and set aside.
Tomato Sauce
While the beef cooks, you can start boiling 3 whole medium Roma tomatoes in water.
Once soft, add the tomatoes to a blender along with an 8 ounce can of low sodium tomato sauce, ¼ teaspoon of salt, ¼ teaspoon of black pepper, ¼ teaspoon of oregano and ½ cup of chicken broth.
Blend everything together until nice and smooth.
In a medium saucepan, heat 1 tablespoon of olive oil or vegetable oil. Carefully pour the sauce in and let it come to a boil. Lower the temperature and let it simmer for about 5-7 minutes until the sauce thickens a bit. Taste and adjust seasoning as needed.
Remove from heat and set aside.
Frying Tortillas and Assembling Entomatadas
Preheat oven to 350°F.
Fill a medium cast-iron skillet or pan with about ½ an inch of oil. Heat the oil over medium heat until nice and hot, but not smoking. Using tongs, fry each of the tortillas in the oil until soft, a little less than a minute each side. Set them on a plate with paper towels to absorb any excess oil.
Once all the tortillas are fried, dip each one into the tomato sauce. Fill each tortilla with the ground beef (about 1-2 tablespoons) and roll. Place them seam side down, side by side, on a 9x13 baking dish.
Pour the remaining tomato sauce over the entomatadas. Top with 1 cup of grated white cheese.
Bake for about 15 minutes until the cheese is melted and bubbly.
Special Note When Assembling Entomatadas
I prefer dipping each of the tortillas in the sauce before stuffing and rolling them because this ensures the tortilla fully absorbs the sauce all over. However this step can get a bit messy, here's an alternative method.
- Pour ¼ cup of the prepared tomato sauce on the bottom of the baking dish.
- Stuff and roll the tortillas without dipping them in the sauce first. Arrange them on the baking dish.
- Pour the remaining sauce on top of the entomatadas. Top with cheese.
Serve them alongside some Mexican rice or your favorite side dish.
I hope you enjoy!
Please leave me a comment below if you make this or tag me on Instagram @everydaylatina.
Interested in making enchiladas next? Check out this recipe for Chicken Enchiladas Suizas (Dairy-Free Option).
Recipe
Ground Beef Entomatadas
Ingredients
Ground Beef Filling
- 1 lb ground beef
- 1 diced garlic clove
- ¼ diced onion
- ⅛ teaspoon cumin powder
- salt and pepper to taste
Tomato Sauce
- 3 medium Roma tomatoes
- 8 oz low sodium tomato sauce
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- ¼ teaspoon black pepper
- ¼ teaspoon oregano
- ½ cup chicken broth
- 1 tablespoon oilve oil or vegetable oil
Entomatadas
- 14 corn tortillas
- ¼ cup of olive oil or vegetable oil for frying
- 1 cup shredded white cheese
Instructions
Ground Beef Filling
- Brown the ground beef in a medium pan or skillet. When almost completely browned, add the diced garlic clove, diced onion, a pinch of cumin powder (about ⅛ teaspoon), and salt and pepper to taste.
- Finish cooking the ground beef. Taste and adjust seasoning if needed. Set aside.
Tomato Sauce
- While the beef cooks, boil the whole tomatoes in water.
- Once soft, add the tomatoes to a blender along with the tomato sauce, salt, black pepper, oregano and chicken broth.
- Blend until nice and smooth.
- In a medium saucepan, heat 1 of oil. Carefully pour the sauce in and let it come to a boil. Lower the temperature and let it simmer for 5-7 minutes until the sauce thickens a bit. Taste and adjust seasoning as needed.
- Remove from heat and set aside.
Assembling Entomatadas
- Preheat oven to 350°F.
- Fill a medium cast-iron skillet or pan with about ½ an inch of oil. Heat the oil over medium heat until hot, but not smoking.
- Using tongs, fry each of the tortillas in the oil until soft, a little less than a minute on each side. Set tortillas on a plate with paper towels to absorb any excess oil.
- Once all the tortillas are fried, dip each one in the tomato sauce. Fill each tortilla with the ground beef (about 1-2 tablespoons) and roll. Place them seam side down, side by side, on a 9×13 baking dish.
- Pour the remaining tomato sauce over the entomatadas. Top with 1 cup of grated white cheese.
- Bake for about 15 minutes until the cheese is melted and bubbly.
- Serve alongside Mexican rice or your favorite side dish.
Notes
- The dipping of the tortillas in the sauce and then rolling them can get a bit messy. If you'd rather, you can pour about ¼ cup of sauce on the bottom of the baking dish. Then simply roll the tortillas with the meat without dipping in the sauce first. Arrange the rolled tortillas on the baking dish and pour the remaining sauce over all of the entomatadas.
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Jaymey
These are FANTASTIC!!!! made then tonight, we added some spicy tomato sauce as well. This is definitely a repeat dish!
Gemma
Hi Jaymey, yes I love these too! I am so glad you liked them. Thank you for trying them and for the comment!
Laura
I haven’t heard of this dish and made for my family tonight. They loved it! It was delicious and full of flavor. Definitely will make it again. Thank you!
everydaylatina
Hi Laura, I am so glad your family loved it! Entomatadas are super common in Mexico but made in so many different ways, this is definitely my favorite.
Kelly Gegg
This sounds AMAZING! I will definitely be trying this for my family! I'm trying to start cooking more and using less frozen stuff! Thanks for sharing!
everydaylatina
Hi Kelly, thank you so much. Let me know if you try it out. Hope you like it!
Gloria D.
Just made these for the family and they are delucious!! I will definitely be keeping this recipe.
everydaylatina
Hi Gloria, I am so happy you gave these a try and that everyone in your family liked them. Thank you for the comment, I so appreciate it!